Kristaponis broke into the mother’s house near Stow­market, Suffolk, when she and her two children went out briefly in July last year.

He ripped her home apart looking for valuables to steal before fleeing with a diamond ring, necklaces, a £1,500 computer and other electronic goods.

A victim impact statement read to Ipswich Crown Court revealed the mother had been left “utterly shocked” by the burglary and the devastation the criminal had caused to her home. Kristaponis could have been jailed for up to 14 years after he admitted his crime.

But Recorder Cooper, after describing the burglar’s behaviour as “unacceptable”, handed him only a 10-month sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to pay just £300 in compensation to his victim.

People pay their taxes and expect the system to work on their behalf

Police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore

Elected Suffolk police chief Mr Passmore, a pig farmer from Witnesham, near Ipswich, called the sentence “excessively lenient”, adding: “I would like people to think about what message this sends to the victims and also what type of deterrent this has to potential offenders.

“People pay their taxes and expect the system to work on their behalf.

“The constabulary spends a lot of time and effort bringing these people to justice. What sort of message does that send to the constabulary and what is the effect on morale when this happens?”

Mr Passmore plans to raise the issue before the local Criminal Justice Board, adding: “It’s important to show that crime doesn’t pay.”

Eastern European migrant Kristaponis, who now lives in Ipswich, cut himself while getting in to the home by smashing a kitchen window and was caught after his DNA was found on a Lithuanian database.

Recorder Cooper told him: “This type of behaviour is unacceptable. This is serious offending. It puts anyone responsible in jeopardy of a severe sentence in order to protect the public and deter other people from offending like you did.”

But the judge still let Kristaponis go free.

Last night a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for the judiciary based on the individual circumstances of a case.”

Lithuania has been a member of the EU since 2004, and its citizens are free to come to Britain.